There is a discussion on entitled Using lower quality aguardente permitted? that stemmed from an announcement that there has been a change to the rules relating to how aguardente can be made.
I asked David Guimaraens and Paul Symington to comment on the discussion and thought that some here might be interested in the replies.
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
I have read all of the posts on the Forum, and it is interesting how well the issue has been covered. What is important to register, and which was also addressed by one person, is that the change in legislation does not imply a drop in the quality of spirit used, particularly as improvements in distillation techniques allow good spirit to be made from leese.
In the past, when the distillation was subject to subsidies, the distillation would only occur 5-6 months after the harvest. Often the wines distilled would be out of condition by this time. Today, without the need to wait for the approval of the subsidy to distill, the distillers are able distill wine lees right at the end of the harvest, and produce better spirit than what was produced from these poor quality wines.
The quality and sensory parameters of the Port Wine Institute have not changed, and there is no intention to change them down, The concern in assuring the quality of the spirit used to fortify Port for me is exactly the same today as it was prior to the change in regulation.
It would be a shame that a small change in the legislation would bring a shadow over what to me has been one of the most important technical advances in the last 20 years. Today the quality of spirit we use across all categories of Port is way ahead than the spirit supplied by the government prior to 1991.
The fantastic quality of spirits used in Vintage Port has been widely talked about and understood, but Ports such as Bin 27 and Six Grapes are also big winners of the improvements achieved, and this will continue.
Regarding the supply and origin of spirit, this is naturally a sensitive subject, and it was interesting to read the different comments made. I will just add a couple. We use "neutral" grape spirit, which means that the distillation has removed the character of the wine used to produce a clean "neutral" grape spirit in which to fortify the musts from our region, therefore the quality of a spirit is a result of the quality of the wine used to distill, and the skill of the distiller. I liked the comparison with Boeing that was made. The other aspect, is that we need 7 liters of wine to produce 1 liter of spirit, so, does it make sense to use wines from the Douro region, which is one of the most expensive growing regions of the world, to produce a wine where the distillation removes all of its character?
I hope these comments are useful to your debate.
Best regards,
David
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
With regard to the discussion on Aguardente on the FTLOP site. I totally endorse David's comments: under no circumstances is the change in legislation going to mean lower quality brandy. The IVDP has not changed any quality criteria and is not going to accept lower quality under any circumstances. Nor is any serious Port company going to put its reputation at stake by cutting corners and by trying to obtain lower quality brandy, that would be a very, very stupid and short-sighted decision. I know of no Port company capable of doing that, even assuming that somehow the IVDP would even allow it, which it will not.
The suggestion that Port companies distil their own brandy is not economically realistic or viable. The investment required is simply massive in view of the quantity of brandy required every year. Furthermore there are many years in every decade when there is simply not enough wine in all of Portugal to make the brandy needed for the Port harvest. There are only a very few distillers across Europe who are capable of making brandy of sufficient quality and quantity as needed by the Port companies. This is a highly specialised business and the start-up costs would be far beyond the possibility of even the largest Port companies.
There are a few references in this discussion to the 'consolidation' that has occurred in Port over the last two decades. I am the first to regret the fact that there are less people now prepared to fight the good fight for Port and for our region. If money and profit is the only criteria, then certainly an exit is the right decision to take (hence the departure of every single multinational drinks company from the Douro). But I would like to point out that those opting out of Port do so at their own will, and the difficulties in the world-wide market for Port are exactly that: the market.
It is hard to maintain Port sales, or indeed a viable Port company, against a multitude of competing wines and in the face of very powerful retailers. Many do not appear to appreciate the reality of selling wine in the major markets around the world, just ask any significant French, Chilean, Californian, Australian or Italian wine producer how the market really works...
Only some it appears, are prepared to carry on flying the flag for Port. The harsh reality is that in 2013 the Port trade will have lost some 250,000 cases of sales worldwide (the IVDP figures for December are not yet available). 250,000 cases is far more than a large majority of Port companies each sell in a whole year.
Sadly there are, in the real world, inevitable consequences to such a decline in sales and those who have not been able to adapt their Port companies to today's world, or who lack the courage to continue to invest in Port, are leaving. It is very sad when this means historic Port companies disappear or get absorbed into other companies. But I argue strongly that we should celebrate those Port producers who are prepared to carry on the fight and who continue to believe that there is a great future for quality Port and the Douro, and who have wider values, other than just a purely financial viewpoint.
It is good that there are plenty of people out there who continue do appreciate the great, historic and unique Ports of the Douro, exactly the sort of people who are on this FTLOP site...
Paul Symington
Chairman & Joint Managing Director
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
entitled Using lower quality aguardente permitted? that stemmed from an announcement that there has been a change to the rules relating to how aguardente can be made.